Camaros Head Through The Desert For Some Fun In The Sun

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Fredrick Lomax had one of the nicer '10 Camaros in attendance. An Edelbrock supercharger underhood helped launch him down the quarter-mile to a best time of 12.475 at 114.53 mph.

The starting spot of our cruise to Phoenix was Speed by Spectre's headquarters in Ontario, California. Here we had a shop tour, raffle, and one hell of a breakfast spread.

The starting spot of our cruise to Phoenix was Speed by Spectre's headquarters in Ontario, California. Here we had a shop tour, raffle, and one hell of a breakfast spread.

After stopping in Blythe, California, for lunch and more raffle drawings, the group continued blasting east through the Arizona desert.

On Saturday, we all met at the special section set up for the Duel participants at the Super Chevy Show. Once assembled, the track personnel performed tech inspections on all the Camaros that would be running down the quarter-mile.

One of our favorite-looking fifth-gens at the event was this SS owned by Guy Martin of Ventura, California. We loved the white paint and silver stripe combination. Hell, we even liked the billet grill. But what really makes the car are the Boze rollers. Guy's best quarter-mile time was 13.871, and on the autocross he broke into the sub 30-second realm with a best time of 29.21.

Aaron Pfadt, of Pfadt Race Engineering, drove his '10 all the way from Salt Lake City, Utah. He killed it in the autocross with a best time of 27.42 seconds. In fact, the only car faster in the fifth-gen class was running his parts. With just a best run of 13.624 at 105.84 on the dragstrip, he still netted a Third Place finish overall.

For many participants, this was their first experience drag racing. Here, Tom Pichette of Peoria, Arizona, launches his bone-stock IROC-Z. While he only ran a 16.20 in the quarter, he did better on the afternoon autocross with a best time of 30.60 seconds.

Long-haul cruise participant Edward Vanhoy had a blast flinging his '10 down Firebird Raceway's strip. His best quarter-mile run was 13.875, but going by his time of 32.96, the autocross proved more challenging.

We made our final cruise stop at Baer Brakes' new facility in Phoenix, Arizona. In addition to grilling up a feast, Baer also gave us the 411 on how they whittle badass binders out of chunks of billet aluminum and steel.

Valerie Pichette lives in Arizona, but still managed to join us on our desert cruise in her '02 drop-top SS. On the dragstrip, she just missed getting into the 13s with a run of 14.020. She did a bit better on the autocross with a 29.50-second run.

We caught Brian Stewart rocking the retro rollers and hockey stripe graphics down the strip. Brian's hometown is Moreno Valley, California, and his best 1320-time was 14.606, while his fastest autocross lap was 30.51 seconds.

Everyone at the event owed a special thanks to Camaro5.com ambassador of goodwill Guillermo Garcia Jr. After all, if it weren't for him, this event wouldn't have been half as cool. Here, he launches his killer L99 fifth-gen down the strip to a best time of 12.721 at 111.11 mph.

Casey Aldridge is what we call "hardcore." Even though he lives in Peoria, Arizona, he drove all the way to California to join us on the cruise back to Arizona. His '02 Z28 is an ex-CHP car, and after seeing his drag race times, it was clear the cop motor had been tweaked for more power. Casey ran a 12.851 at 110.80 mph on the dragstrip. He was equally fast on the autocross, with a best run of 27.77. He finished in Second Place for his class.

One thing that really impressed us about David James' Camaro was how he managed to make the stock wheels look so much better by blacking them out and adding inner orange hoops to match his SS stripes. His consistent runs of 13.440 on the dragstrip and 29.14 seconds at the autocross landed him a Fourth Place overall finish. Considering he's just running a cold air intake, we thought his drag race performance was pretty damn good.

After the drag racing action was completed, there was a driver's meeting where autocross maven and Camaro Performers magazine columnist, Mary "Spoiler Snapper" Pozzi, gave everyone tips on how to negotiate the autocross quickest. Like on the dragstrip, this was the first time autocrossing for many of the participants.

John Coy's super-clean and mostly stock Camaro looked great flinging around the cones. Like many in attendance, John didn't have a lot of track experience, but he still had a blast working over his new Camaro.

Logan Riffenburg hails from Palmdale, California, and decided to cruise out with us in his showroom-stock '10 SS. The Camaro ran a traction-lacking 14.184 at 107.84 mph. Later that day he nailed down a 30.50-second lap on the autocross.

Al Moreno digs Camaros, both old and new. He had the older ones covered, so right before the event, he picked up this white fifth-gen. In fact, it still wore the dealer plates. Now that's how to break in a new ride. Hey Al, were you aiming for that cone pancaked under your right front tire?

For a recently released color, there sure were a lot of white SS's at the event. Dannie Pinard of Porter Ranch, California, owns this one sporting orange graphics applied by Tim McColgon of Ontario, California. The Pace Car door decals are the only things missing.

Everywhere we go we spy Rob and Trish Byrd's smokin' hot Camaro. The couple are true believers and go to every event they can. In fact, we're pretty sure they were the first ones to sign up for our inaugural run. Rob ran the Camaro down the quarter-mile to a best time of 13.702 at 105.69 mph while Trish piloted it on the autocross for a best lap of 29.35.

Another Arizona resident who drove to California just so he could drive back was Tom Foglesong. Every time we see Tom's '67, it's rolling on different and nicer wheels. His budget-build first-gen is powered by a 5.3L LS engine. His 13.423 quarter-mile time, combined with his 27.82-second autocross run, was good enough to land him in Third Place for his class.

Doug Renner is another of those guys who just can't pass up a chance to drive his Camaro. He nicknamed his '69 "Apollo 13" and we suspect that's because it often "has a problem." Mr. Renner managed to one-wheel-squeal his way around the autocross track to a Third Place time of 26.95 seconds. Unfortunately, his 14.663 stroll down the dragstrip hurt his overall score.

Brett Campbell has been working on his '67 convertible for the last four years. Filled with all sorts of custom touches, the Pro Touring first-gen is almost done. He managed to secure a First Place autocross time (26.64) and a Third Place drag time (13.625) in his class. This was good enough for the win in his division.

Don Gonzalez did the cruise, ran the dragstrip, and blasted through the autocross. He doesn't have a lot of driving experience, and his ride is fairly stock, but he still managed a Ninth Place overall finish and, more importantly, he had a great time.

Nick Licata decided to have a little fun and run Black Betty, our '01 Z28 project car, in the event. After snapping a driveshaft at the LS Fest in Bowling Green, Kentucky, he went easy on the launch and ran a best quarter-mile time of 13.673 at 105.50 mph. With an event to manage, he didn't have much time to play on the autocross course, but he still managed to knock down a 27.24 run his second time out.

Rick Andrade loves his '10, and you only have to look at the ride to see why. The blown LS3 under the hood helped him nail down the fastest drag time of the day with a 12.442 at 120.51 mph, and he came in Third with a best run of 28.67 seconds on the autocross. Expect a full feature on this killer Camaro in the near future.

Since Mary Pozzi was busy, her husband David swiped her keys and ran her nearly bone-stock '02 SS in the event. David killed the autocross with a time of 26.65, missing First Place by only a hundredth of a second. And while David is a pro on the twisty tracks, he was only able to muster up a 14.043 e.t. on the quarter-mile.

If we had a long-distance award, it would have had to go to Erik Cederberg of Miami, Florida. Yep, Erik drove across the freakin' country to run in our event. His '10 runs a Pfadt suspension along with Nitto NT-05 tires and had the fastest autocross time (27.07) of all the fifth-gens. Even with his fifth-place drag time (13.496 e.t.) he still managed to come in Second Place among the new Camaros.

When the dust settled and the points were tallied, the winner of our inaugural Duel in the Desert was Rick Andrade with a total score of 51 points. For pulling this off, Rick received a slick trophy, Equipe watch, JBA 2010 long-tube headers, and an all-expense paid trip to the 2010 SEMA show courtesy of Spectre. Congrats on the win, Rick, but you better keep working on the car because we have a feeling the competition is only going to get tougher next year.

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